Norway could kill hundreds more minke whales next year

Shanta Barley, New Scientist 8 Dec 09;

Conservationists have condemned Norway's decision to increase the number of minke whales it can kill by 45 per cent, describing the move as unjustified and "political posturing".

Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, the country's fisheries minister, announced on Friday that Norwegian whalers would be allowed to catch 1286 of the marine mammals in 2010 – up from 885 this year.

"We were expecting Norway to either keep the same quota or reduce it, given the lack of demand for whale meat," said Kate O'Connell at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

O'Connell and other conservationists are particularly surprised by the decision because Norway caught just 50 per cent of its minke quota this year. They fear the move could encourage Japan to follow suit.

"Even though the hunt was reopened and even extended to the end of September, well beyond the normal closing date of 31 August, the whalers simply could not find buyers for their meat," she said.

Indeed demand for whale meat was so low in June that the Norwegian Fishermen's Sales Organisation temporarily put a halt to all whale hunts.

Berg's announcement, at the annual meeting of the Norwegian Minke Whalers' Union in Svolvær, coincided with a closed-door meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) support group in Seattle, Washington, to discuss whale management prior to the IWC's general meeting in June next year.
'Political posturing'

It's not just Norway that has been upping the ante. Between 2008 and 2009, the number of minke whales killed by Japan in Antarctica jumped from 551 to 679, while Iceland raised its quota from 40 to 200.

Japan's extra kills and an increase in imports from Iceland and Norway led to a glut of meat on the Japanese market.

"With all this meat flooding the market, Norway's decision to raise its quota next year makes absolutely no sense," said O'Connell. "This is nothing more than political posturing, but it could have devastating consequences, especially if Japan decides to follow Norway and Iceland and up its own whale quotas."

Just over a fortnight ago, the Japanese whaling fleet set sail for the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, a whale reserve set up by the IWC in 1994 where the Japanese can kill up to 935 minke whales every year.

The Norwegians hunt the common minke, which as its name suggests is not endangered. Not enough is known about the Antarctic minke for its conservation status to be classified on the Red List of Threatened Species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.